HOCl || An up-and-coming sanitizer & disinfectant solution

They say hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is not a new substance and has been known for years. Well, it is surely not new for our readers here ☺. You, by now, know a lot about this weak acid and have helped us gain and maintain this knowledge as well in the process. 

The world and people’s lifestyles are constantly changing, especially amidst the recent pandemic. Hence, it becomes essential for us and our knowledge bucket to evolve accordingly. We’ll ensure populating our space with more information on HOCl products and their uses – this blog aims at the same.

We all understand that hypochlorous acid naturally occurs within our body, residing in our white blood cells (WBCs) and helping us build a healthy immune system. Let’s see what more it has to offer.

HOCl was primarily used for wound cleaning during wars by the armies. However, it eventually made its way into the dairy farming and agriculture industries. For instance, the farmers used HOCl during irrigation to control the microbial growth on crops. Similarly, dairy farmers use it during the milking process.

Recently, it has gained a name in the cleaning industry. 

• It has a neutral pH (between 3 and 6) with no added chemicals.
  • This makes it safer for the human body and skin – using a hypochlorous acid-based hand sanitizer would not cause any irritation or allergic reaction on the skin.
• It effectively kills microorganisms.
  • The killing ensures there is no formation of superbugs. While the pathogens protect themselves from other chemical compounds, they allow the neutral pH hypochlorous acid cleaner inside them like water. This enables HOCl to kill pathogens from inside and destroy them, thus eliminating any possibility of the formation of superbugs. 
• It is safe for the surrounding air, human health, and the environment.
  • It doesn’t add any harmful chemicals or gases to the environment. Its nonexistence from the Association for Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC) Asthmagen list proves it not to be causing any asthmatic or respiratory problem. 
• Hypochlorous acid is labeled non-toxic and safer when used as a sanitizer and disinfectant.
  • Though many disinfectants are available to kill viruses and bacteria, including the SARS-CoV-2, HOCl offers a different type of disinfection. It kills all the harmful microorganisms as any other disinfectant, yet without causing any hazardous effect on the surroundings or the person using/applying. It can be effectively and appropriately used as a hand sanitizer and surface disinfectant. As a surface disinfectant, the HOCl products do not leave any residue and are noncorrosive. In addition, HOCl disinfectants are non-flammable, thus becoming a reliable product to be used inside homes, offices, kitchens, factories, and vehicles.

If our own body makes and approves a product to be safe and keep it healthy, it shouldn’t require any other validity for its efficiency, safety, and usability. Nevertheless, quoting different extracts from the US NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) website that might boost up our confidence in HOCl as a sanitizer and disinfectant, “An ideal disinfectant and sanitizer must be nontoxic to surface contact, noncorrosive, effective in various forms, and relatively inexpensive. HOCl may be the disinfectant of choice for coronaviruses in an oral-maxillofacial surgery (OMS) office. HOCl is a powerful oxidizing agent. In aqueous solution, it dissociates into H+ and OCl–, denaturing and aggregating proteins. HOCl also destroys viruses by chlorination by forming chloramines and nitrogen-centered radicals, resulting in single- as well as double-stranded DNA breaks, rendering the nucleic acid useless and the virus harmless. HOCl has been shown to inactivate a variety of viruses including coronaviruses in less than 1 minute.”

Adopt HOCl for a promising future!

Avani Raj Arora